Shucking device for hardshell fish



Jan. 8, 1963 F. GAMBARDELLA SHUCKING DEVICE FOR HARDSHELL FISH rrE i Eb INVENTOR'. Fray/I Gmaraelia BY orig/t Filed May 31, 1960 80 of carrying out the present inveritiohfla're ho Y I illustrative purposesz l a F hk' Ganihardella h s gog vest Hav Conn. P a perspecfivefview of a, shuckmgfdvicg Maybl;1960,"Ser:ivd.32,796 bodymg h? present invention;"

- Eiled neck-5mg 1 C 5 FIG. 2 1s a fragmentary longitudinal' s tion hroi gh it r the*sarr 1e shucking'devicey" FIG. a is a section sirnilantdFlGJ 2, ndg'shew gnie shucking' devicein a different operating position FIG. '4 is a section taken on the line 4-"4=jof FI1G.Q3; 10 1 FIG.; 5 is a side view of a'shucking deviceembodying I the presentinvention in a modifiedmariner; and

andvhardshell crabs isrelativelyweasy and presents no real t-problem; it is quite differentwWhen-it comesutotheir FIG. 6 is a front viewfofathei'shuckin dev efof knuckle parts -:'1?hus,=;;t-hese knuckle: parts, ihereinafter FIG; 5:-

simply referred toiasf, knucklesfi are iIIICOIIIHIGIClQI Referring gto the drawings, andimore particularly to outlets 5 'or restaurant estab'lishments: (usually-vsli't open EIGS. 1 :to 4 thereof the'reference numeral 10 designates a-'sl1uckingdevice having a mounting bracket 12 and shueking'elements 14 andzlfi. The moimting bracket Z12 presently has a U-shaped base l With suitable 'hoIes Zi) for its bolt attachment to a'benchor othervsuitable slip- Qrtwa dian uPrightPost 'ZZ."

5 The? shucking 2O theihands of hiredirhelp gperforrning;this ttask i arefre-t out by the knife or sharp barbson In consequence, the cost of; shuckfrom, tth egbracket ing these knuckles; 'bysfhired help: is; so -high; that m'ost larger, commercialvoutlets; refrain from doing so and rather; sell knuckles unshucked atr-inappreciable, if any, fofitw' v lfl: w' E'w I g in:

Itlislan object. of the present invention to provide a tool ;productively withoutelement 14 is in the: r form of I a blade post 22.:- Therear end of ltheblad e l l is presentlytreceivedtin afitting groove 24 in thebott om 25 of a sidefrecess 26 in the-post 22; and is securely held therein by a retainer plate 28 which fits in the' rec'ess2 6 V and is screwed at 3610 the post 22.- The forwardly pro jectingi blade l4 is iprefe'rably vplanar-and*of relatively W commercially well restaurantestablishments, but for larger; commercial outletsas well t t s; another object of, the! present: invention to [pro- VLdQ/a o ol of thistypeflo which;knucklesiare applied;byt it e km qflfi qn:a din re rcm ly imp fa shron, and which shuck the applied knuckles on equally w V V p v I thet rneat therein to slither'to either *side' of br b elo'vi and simple manipulation of the-tool sqtthap the the blade without becomingbruised'by thelatte r Fo'r 40 'applicationto theblade Myaknukle ki's 'simply sl endvvisetonto the blade from i zmfiatiin the) knuckle dodging the blade"on"its 'projectlOZl lIliO; andthrough theknuckle. -Preferably,"' knucklesi arepapplied' to the blade in "the manner shown ih the drawings, i.e., on the blade inf 'the 1 direction their characteristically longer axis"): (FIGS. land-4).;m; r z

The other shucking element 16'is i tioned highly pnoductive fashion yet will ]not;bruise gthe same price as costly lohfsteror crab meati Anotheri-object of the present inventio is p y R 1,465 this, cracks, rather than lie hard ells of applied knuckles, thereby :to elimin g H 7 s ith t i i p o n ial zha a da t v Eand also; to: assure entirely satisfactory-performthelongest; time andwithva minimum;

the of, kn ucl cles of Widely varying s' than that of many ordinarily used low-cost kitchen tools.

Other objects and advantages will appear to those skilled in the art from the following, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

prong surfaces 40 thereon, In the accompanying drawings, in which certain modes are preferably serrated, with the serrations 42 extending longitudinally of the prongs 36 and thereby affording not only narrowly spaced shell-gripping edges but also traps for barbs b on the shell which may be in the path of the serrated prong surfaces 40. The above-described preferred suspension of a knuckle on the blade 14 is thus firmly maintained on closure of the fork 16 thereon and during the cracking of the hard shell despite the multi-curve contour of the latter, so that the meat therein will not become bruised or squashed in any way.

The fork 36 is normally urged into the open position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 by a return spring 44 which is anchored with its ends on the bracket post 22 and on a pin 46 in the end of the fork prongs 36. The shank 34 of the fork 16 serves as an advantageous lever arm for the operation of the latter, and is preesntly sheathed with a comfortable handle grip 48.

In operation, a knuckle k is slid onto the blade 14 in the described manner. This is a quick and simple task requiring no skill on the part of an operator, neither is the operators hand likely to be bruised by sharp barbs on the knuckle for only the slightest hand pressure on the latter is sufiicient for its quick application to the blade 14. The operator then merely depresses the fork 16 at the handle grip 48 in a quick stroke to close the prongs 36 on the hard shell of the suspended knuckle and crack the same apart throughout its length. PEG. 3 shows a shell s partly cracked apart, with the remainder of the shell being cracked apart on continued descent of the fork 16, as will be readily understood. In this connection, the blade 14 and fork 16 are preferably so arranged that they form at their passage angles with each other pointing away from the axis of the pivot connection 38, whereby a suspended hard shell s on the blade is in optimum controlled fashion and with the least effort on the part of the operator cracked progressively from one end to the other on closure of the fork 16. After the shell is completely cracked apart along the side thereof adjacent the blade 14 and then usually drops from the latter with the meat still contained in the shell, the operator releases the fork 16 for spring-return to its open position and slides the same shell onto the blade 14 in suspension therefrom which is the reverse of its previous suspension therefrom. The operator then again depresses the fork 16 for cracldng the suspended shell apart, and the latter is this time divided into separate parts from which the meat is readily separated. This overall process in shucking a knuckle may be repeated in quick succession on other knuckles, as will be readily understood.

The present shucking device 10 is thus highly efiicient in its performance and has a large production capacity, yet its construction is extremely simple and rugged and it lends itself to efiicient mass production at very low cost. The present shucking device 10 is also quite safe in even quick operation, for it lacks any sharp cutting edges and is hand-operated. In this connection, the knuckle-backing edge 50 of the blade 14, as well as the other edges thereof, are preferably dull, which not only eliminates cutting hazards to an operators hand but also makes for entirely satisfactory performance of the device for the longest time and with the least maintenance.

While the described mountable shucking device 10 is particularly appropriate for commercial establishments dealing in hardshell fish, a hand shucking tool 52 embodying the same invention and being particularly useful in smaller restaurants and in homes is shown in FIGS. and 6. This tool comprises two members 54 and 56 which are pivotably connected at 58. The members 54 and 56 provide on opposite sides of their pivot 58 blade and fork elements 14, 16' and handles 60, of which the elements 14' and 16 may be like the respective blade 14 and fork 16 of the described device 10, except that the fork 16' is open at its forward end 62. Thus, the fork 16 has prongs 36' with shell-cracking surfaces 40' which are inclined to each other and to the plane of the blade 14 so as wedge-like to straddle a knuckle on the blade. Also, the cracking surfaces 40' of the prongs 36 are longitudinally serrated as at 42'. The present hand shucking tool 52 is used in the same way as the shucking device 10 in cracking the hard shells of knuckles, the only difference being that the handles 60 are closed by hand pressure for the shucking performance of the present tool. The present tool has also all the advantages of the shucking device 10, except that it is not mounted like the latter but, instead, may be put away when not in use and will also cost less than the mounted device.

The invention may be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention, and the present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

1. A shucking device for hardshell knuckles and the like, comprising two members relatively turnable about an axis, of which one member provides a blade with a free end and a substantially straight side edge extending from said end over a distance greater than the length of a knuckle, with said blade extending widthwise in a plane substantially normal to said axis and being over said distance thereof of sufficiently narrow width for endwise slide-on of a knuckle into suspension therefrom substantially with clearance from the meat therein, and the other member provides substantially parallel prongs extending on opposite sides of and along said plane and being in confronting and substantially equally spaced relation with said blade edge when said blade and prongs are open, with said prongs being'spaced from each other and of a length to pass said blade edge with clearance therefrom over the entire extent of a knuckle thereon for cracking its hard shell on closing said blade and prongs; and lever means for opening and closing said blade and prongs.

2. A shucking device as set forth in claim 1, in which said prongs are substantially straight.

3. A shucking device as set forth in claim 1, in which said blade is tapered in said plane with its width progressively increasing away from said free end thereof.

4. A shucking device as set forth in claim 1, in which all exposed edges of said blade are dull.

5. A shucking device as set forth in claim 1, in which said prongs have shell-cracking surfaces inclined to each other and said plane for their wedge-like straddling of a knuckle on the blade when closing said blade and prongs.

6. A shucking device as set forth in claim 1, in which said blade and prongs are coordinated so that on passing each other they define angles pointing away from said axis.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. A SHUCKING DEVICE FOR HARDSHELL KNUCKLES AND THE LIKE, COMPRISING TWO MEMBERS RELATIVELY TURNABLE ABOUT AN AXIS, OF WHICH ONE MEMBER PROVIDES A BLADE WITH A FREE END AND A SUBSTANTIALLY STRAIGHT SIDE EDGE EXTENDING FROM SAID END OVER A DISTANCE GREATER THAN THE LENGTH OF A KNUCKLE, WITH SAID BLADE EXTENDING WIDTHWISE IN A PLANE SUBSTANTIALLY NORMAL TO SAID AXIS AND BEING OVER SAID DISTANCE THEREOF OF SUFFICIENTLY NARROW WIDTH FOR ENDWISE SLIDE-ON OF A KNUCKLE INTO SUSPENSION THEREFROM SUBSTANTIALLY WITH CLEARANCE FROM THE MEAT THEREIN, AND THE OTHER MEMBER PROVIDES SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL PRONGS EXTENDING ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF AND ALONG SAID PLANE AND BEING IN CONFRONTING AND SUBSTANTIALLY EQUALLY SPACED RELATION WITH SAID BLADE EDGE WHEN SAID BLADE AND PRONGS ARE OPEN, 